Botanic Garden >> Gardening > >> Houseplants >> Plants for Details >> Grasses and Bamboo

Ruby Grass 'Pink Crystals' (Melinis nerviglumis): Dazzling Pink Plumes

Overview

'Pink Crystals' is a showy cultivar of Ruby Grass, an African native annual or tender perennial grown for its spectacular, fluffy pink flower plumes that appear in summer and persist into fall. The blue-green foliage forms a neat clump, turning reddish in cooler weather.

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Family:	Poaceae (poh-AY-see-ee)
Genus:	Melinis (ME-lin-iss)
Species:	nerviglumis (ner-vee-GLOO-miss)
Cultivar:	Pink Crystals

Synonym: Rhynchelytrum nerviglume.

Cultivation & Uses

Grow in full sun and well-drained soil. Treat as an annual in cool climates; it may self-sow. Excellent in containers, borders, and cutting gardens. The plumes are superb for fresh and dried arrangements. Heat and drought tolerant.

Grasses and Bamboo: Blue Oat Grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens); Palm Grass (Setaria palmifolia); Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans); Gulf Muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris): The Pink Cloud Grass of the South; Centipede Grass (Eremochloa ophiuroides): A Low-Maintenance, Acid-Loving Lawn Grass; Egyptian Grass (Dactyloctenium aegyptium): A Spreading Annual Grass with Crowfoot Seed Heads; Ruby Grass 'Savannah' (Melinis nerviglumis): Compact Cultivar with Pink Plumes; Bear Grass (Xerophyllum tenax): Iconic Western Native for Fire-Adapted Landscapes; Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea nana): Dwarf Australian Grasstree; Feather Grass (Stipa pennata): A European Steppe Grass with Silky, Flowing Awns

Garden Articles

Silver Banner Grass (Miscanthus sacchariflorus)

Fountain Grass 'Hameln' (Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln')

Indian Grass 'Indian Steel' (Sorghastrum nutans): A Metallic-Blue Native Prairie Grass

Dallis Grass (Paspalum dilatatum): A Robust Pasture Grass with Sticky Seed Heads

Ribbon Grass 'Picta' (Phalaris arundinacea): A Variegated, Spreading Grass for Wet Sites

Quaking Grass (Briza media): A Delicate Grass with Trembling Heart-Shaped Seed Heads

Purple Love Grass (Eragrostis spectabilis): Cloud of Purple Haze in Late Summer

Plants

Australian Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea preissii): Majestic Trunked Xanthorrhoea

Narrow-leaved Cotton Grass (Eriophorum angustifolium): White Fluffy Heads in Bogs

Bottlebrush Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea macronema): Slender Australian Grasstree

Himalayan Fairy Grass (Miscanthus nepalensis): A Delicate, Late-Blooming Grass from the Himalayas

Purple Moor Grass (Molinia caerulea): A Native European Grass with Airy Purple Panicles

Prairie Cordgrass (Spartina pectinata): A Tall, Native Wetland Grass for Restoration

Scribner's Rosette Grass (Dichanthelium oligosanthes var. scribnerianum)